Targeting audiences: How to look beyond age, ethnicity, occupation or postcode

by Alicia Solanki

Framing consumers within culture and behavioural shifts allows brands to develop campaigns based on real-time data, avoiding outdated demographic insights and enabling more powerful storytelling.

You’ll learn:

• How to better define target audiences using real-time data

• Why testing on tribes matters

• How to create more effective campaigns and reduce wasteful marketing

Audiences, audiences, audiences. 

It’s definitely on the PR bingo sheet. A word that’s banded around like it’s going out of fashion. But what still surprises me, even after a decade in this business, is how few people really understand the intricacies of what we mean by ‘audiences.’ 

We’ve all been there…the long-awaited client brief that pings into our inbox. We open it with much trepidation, excitement, fear even, that god forbid, the deadline for response will be in 48 hours. The brief seems straightforward until we get to the section marked ‘target audience.’ That’s where I usually weep. 

More often than not, it’s likely to say the words ‘Gen Z’ or ‘female millennial’ or…yes…even the word ‘everyone’. 

Now, unless a client’s budget is infinite, going after ‘everyone’ is not only unrealistic, but it misses the point. 

It’s like someone taking aim at a target board and when asking where the bullseye is, being told, ‘oh, it’s anywhere really.’ The clue is in the word ‘target’. We have to be much more laser focused, less lazy and understand that this is only going to become more important as people seek to define themselves beyond their age, ethnicity, occupation or postcode. 

I am me

Being under lockdown has been a transformative period for so many people. But not just at an individual level. We’ve seen seismic shifts in public opinion connected to issues we may have preferred to sweep under the proverbial carpet. 

The world has rallied. People have united across traditional audience lines and formed new groups based on shared views, shared cultures (and I don’t mean religious necessarily) and shared experiences. 

We’ve seen people take a stand. We’ve seen people take the knee. Assert ‘I am me’ and break the shackles of the traditional audience banding which society, or just being of a certain age or gender, has imposed upon them. 

There are so many lessons to be learnt here for PR professionals as we charge into the future: 

I. Get down with cultural drivers and don’t be too quick to put your target audiences in boxes. Yes, it may feel neater to approach it in this way, but humans are individual, colourful beings and frankly, there is a huge difference between a millennial born in 1981 and one born in 1995!

II. Go after the ‘first time mum’ rather than ‘parents.’ You’ll not only get a more acute focus on your bullseye, but it will cut out wastage from a media point of view and tighten the screws around your talent recommendations. 

III. Don’t just rely on what the data tells you. Speak to people. Assemble a network of tribes around your business or agency who can add a human lens to the cultural insights you may have gleaned about specific audiences. Computers are smart, but people are smarter.

Digital crumbs

Identifying groups of people horizontally across passion points and less so vertically based on strict demographics is only possible if we get down and dirty with data. 

Consumers leave digital crumbs wherever they go online as part of their sharing and web browsing patterns – their favourite place to eat, best online retailers, the e-book genres they frequently go after. These digital crumbs offer huge clues as to how we might hone our language and vernacular to best appeal to a specific audience segment. 

In many ways, I see this as the unearthing of the consumer truth in a very raw, uninterrupted way. Once we’re in command of this information, it’s a gold mine of clues as to how we might phrase and structure our branded content and the types of lexicon we might choose to use in our earned copy. 

Audiences will only respond to something which feels familiar and natural so it can be a great lens through which to pass client messaging to ensure it’s jargon free and doesn’t set off the BS alarm.

I’ve often had many a client say to me ‘we want our industry’s version of the plastic straw moment.’ Whilst we won’t pretend to have a crystal ball which can predict some of this, we do have data. By being forensic about search patterns and social conversation, we can quickly start to gather crumbs about our audiences’ passions and convictions and start to map the velocity of themes we know will gather momentum over time. 

Curb the waste

It was encouraging to hear that last year Procter and Gamble announced a move to ‘smart audience work.’ A pivot designed to help the company move away from generic demographics to ‘smart audiences’ to help boost the effectiveness of its marketing and innovation pipeline. 

This move was designed to not only curb ‘wasteful’ mass marketing in favour of mass one-on-one brand building, but serve people with stories and messages that resonate where they are and with more human truth built in. 

There’s a reason companies like HMV suffered when consumers made the switch from physical to digital music formats – their audience antennas were probably malfunctioning. 

I urge brands to keep on top of audience segmentation to stave off HMV or Blockbuster syndrome and ensure that if a specific audience behaviour shifts, we’re right there to capitalise on the swing. 

We’re so lucky to have immeasurable amounts of data at our fingertips. We just need to get smart by framing audiences within these cultural shifts and being savvier with the way we cluster them. 

Traditional audience segmentation work tends to take place annually or every two years and its maddening to think marketing communications investment decisions are often based on these outdated insights. We need to box way smarter with our audience intelligence or become quickly out of touch with the very people we’re trying to influence. 

Culture is malleable, fluid and shape shifts more than a mythological werewolf, but let’s get comfortable with the mess. People can be more than one thing. An art lover and a first-time mum. A tech enthusiast and a chessboard champion. Let’s redraw the audience battle lines. 

Art and science

The way in which the PR industry is evolving is exciting. We’ve always been an art form. Masters of language. Kings and Queens of influence. Champions when it comes to a memorable campaign tagline. But what we’ve learnt to apply in the process is a layer of science. Some healthy challenge to our ‘gut’ and a way to test out our hunches and hypotheses in a way which makes it irresistible to clients or stakeholders. In many ways, it’s how our friends over in the precision marketing or advertising industries have been doing it for decades. But when you think about the stranglehold PR has on the power of earned storytelling, it’s undeniable how powerful our campaigns could be if we got real specific with audiences. 

I once read this quote: “identifying clearly defined target markets and target audiences works like a magnifying glass that focuses the sun’s rays.” You will eventually get fire…and who doesn’t want a hot PR campaign?

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Alicia Solanki is the Deputy Managing Director of Ketchum London’s Brand division, a community of over 40 consultants. She heads up the agency’s largest technology client and is instrumental in helping drive forward the agency’s innovation pipeline from a products and services perspective. Although now in consumer brand, Alicia spent 13 years of her career in corporate communications, which has given her a uniquely ‘corpsumer’ mindset. Clients Alicia has led at Ketchum include Samsung, Nissan Europe, FedEx Express, Hertz and P&G Professional. Away from work, Alicia is married and adores being a mum to Ella (6) and Ethan (3). With an Indian and East African heritage, she can often be found cooking up a storm in the kitchen. Alicia also loves travelling, supporting industry D&I initiatives (she’s a mentor on the 2020 BME PR Pros scheme), spending time with her extended family and sampling fermented grapes!

Twitter: @17_alicia
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alicia-solanki-n%C3%A9e-mistry-a5150834/ 

The future of internal communication

by Advita Patel

The COVID-19 pandemic has driven internal communication up the management team agenda. Leaders have recognised that engagement with their workforces is crucial if organisations are to sustain and thrive.

You’ll learn:

• The importance of an engaged workforce to productivity

• A skills framework for internal communicators

• How work and home life is converging along with internal and external communication

In response to COVID-19, the IPR Organizational Communication Research Centre has reported that “the pandemic is leading executives to realise that companies can’t grow, prosper or even survive without a knowledgeable, engaged and aware workforce.” 

The global pandemic of COVID-19 has changed the landscape of internal communication and communicators forever. 

Gartner, a research and advisory company, has predicted that 48% of employees will work remotely post-COVID-19 and due to economic uncertainty, there will be a rise of contractors/freelancers in organisations to allow for greater flexibility.

This crisis has probably been the biggest shake-up the internal communications industry has seen. For years internal communicators were regarded as the ‘poor relation’ of PR, and many leaders couldn’t see the impact of what a good internal communication function could have on their business. 

However this global crisis has finally reinforced to many organisations how important their people are to their success. Leaders recognised from the outset that if they didn’t communicate effectively with their workforce, then it would have a detrimental impact on their bottom line and customer base.

Those internal communicators who struggled for years to be heard were suddenly thrust under the spotlight. Many were sitting around the coveted boardroom table within 24 hours of the crisis being announced and were on speed dial with their CEO. 

The process for approving business cases for new technology went out the window and organisations that had spent many years fighting against flexible working were suddenly having to deal with a remote flexible workforce. 

The investment and change that was needed was accelerated and is finally here.

Fit for the future

The skills and qualifications of what is needed to be an effective internal communicator have evolved over the years. But the last six months have shown that good internal communicators offer much more than being able to write well and manage channels effectively. 

Many skilled communicators recognise the value they bring and understand the organisation they work in so they can advise senior executives appropriately. They know that in order to futureproof themselves they need to always be one step ahead and offer skills that leaders will need to help deliver against key objectives. 

With work habits changing due to COVID-19, many desk-based employees have had to adjust to home-working and operational / front-line workers have also had to adapt their working style. 

Employers need to bear in mind that priorities may have changed and in some cases there will be additional pressures, such as mental health and wellbeing. These challenges require internal communications professionals to upskill to make sure they have the knowledge to deal with future impact. 

Skills for success

In early 2020 the Institute of Internal Communications launched its updated professional framework for internal communicators which encapsulates the skills internal communicators need to succeed. 

It said the role of internal communication is “to enable people at work to feel informed, connected and purposeful in order to drive organisational purpose.” 

The framework includes skills such as:

• Influencing and advising

• Strategy, planning and business acumen

• Understanding people and cultures

• Creating and curating content and conversation

• Channel and community management

• Conducting research, measuring and demonstrating value

Internal communicators have a unique perspective of their organisation and are in a strong position to advise leaders effectively on future working practice. However, if they don’t keep up with their professional development, enhance their skills and understand the impact they can have, then it’s likely they’ll have to exit that coveted boardroom seat. 

Internal and external convergence

The Office of National Statistics reported that 49% of the working UK population worked from home during the peak of COVID-19. With the likelihood of more people working remotely and the demise of the office culture, the convergence between internal and external communication will progress much faster than it has done so in the past.

Katie Macaulay, Managing Director at AB, predicted this change back in 2018 when she conducted some research on convergence. 

She said: “Traditional models of employment are becoming obsolete. Work has become a thing we do, not a place we go to. For many employees, there is a convergence of work and home. For others, work is becoming more transient and flexible.”

The global pandemic has shown, more than it has done so in the past, how colleagues choose their own channels and how technology can empower their voices. 

Managing the reputation of an organisation used to sit firmly with the external communication team, but the pandemic has clearly demonstrated that it’s the employees who hold power when it comes to maintaining reputation. 

Organisations like Sports Direct and Wetherspoons were outed by their employees due to a lack of care and empathy during the crisis, whereas organisations like Timpson and Airbnb, which shared their internal messaging widely, were hailed heroes even though Airbnb had to make a third of its workforce redundant. 

If internal communicators don’t consider channels outside of their own remit when it comes to messaging or consider how their workforce communicates outside of work, then it’s going to damage not only the organisation’s reputation but also their own. 

Building trust with data

With trust lost in the government and NGOs, colleagues are now turning to business leaders to provide certainty during times of change. A 10-country study conducted by Edelman during COVID-19 confirmed the role businesses must play as a source of reliable and timely information. [1] 

There’s an opportunity here for internal communication to play a big part in helping leaders build trust quickly. Effective measures and data can give them clarity on what’s happening across the organisation. With the pace of change taking place, executives will want to be ahead of the curve, so they can be prepared for any future impact. 

Measurement and data are two areas that some communicators notoriously struggle with but it’s something that we need to get comfortable with. There will be some difficult decisions made over the next few years in organisations. Most leaders will need these data insights to ensure they are making the right call as ‘gut feelings’ alone will not suffice.

In conclusion

It’s difficult to predict exactly what might happen in the future as there’s so much uncertainty. 

But one thing we can be sure of is that if organisations want to survive post-COVID, then they are going to have to invest in their internal communication function. 

The workforce will be critical to success and if colleagues are not communicated with effectively then they will not be engaged, feel empowered or connected, which will lead to performance issues and ultimately will have a knock-on effect on income generation. 

For internal communicators to stay relevant and to make significant impact, they have to show how they continue to add value to the business. The key focus must be on business acumen, building relationships and understanding data and measurement.

Those who pay attention, invest and futureproof themselves will no doubt come out of the next few years, stronger and better than ever – and retain that seat at the table. 

Sources

[1] https://www.edelman.com/research/edelman-trust-covid-19-demonstrates-essential-role-of-private-sector

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Advita Patel is the Managing Director of CommsRebel, an internal communication and employee experience consultancy based in Manchester. She’s also the co-founder of A Leader Like Me, a subscription service helping women of colour succeed in their leadership roles. 

CommsRebel encourages businesses to take the leap and revolutionise the way they communicate within their organisation by using effective measurement techniques and creative tools. Advita is also a qualified coach/mentor and works with teams and individuals to help them achieve their goals and build confidence. 

Advita is a Chartered PR Practitioner, a Board Director and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

Twitter: @advita_p
Web: commsrebel.com/ 
Web: aleaderlikeme.com/

How media coverage is weakened by a lack of racial diversity

by Arvind Hickman

Racism can be found in every industry and the media is no different. How journalists report news matters because distorted coverage reinforces stereotypes, compounding the problem and creating new prejudices among the general public. 

You’ll learn:

• News coverage can easily be distorted

• Why BAME representation in leadership positions is crucial

• How racial diversity improves the reader experience

Early in my career, a murder case illustrated how a lack of racial diversity can influence the way news is presented and reinforce stigmas about different cultures. This problem still persists today in the media, and society is the loser.

I cut my teeth as a young crime reporter in Sydney’s South West for a community paper called the Liverpool Leader. 

This part of Australia’s largest city was rich in culture due to waves of immigration, often after wars, including a large and vibrant Vietnamese community. It was a microcosm of multicultural Australia, but often only a place the mainstream media covered for all the wrong reasons.

One day I rocked up to work and our photographer had heard on the scanner that a young man was fatally stabbed at a nearby mall. We arrived at the crime scene before the police and started digging around for clues to piece together what had happened. I managed to find out where the victim’s family lived and – as was expected of journalists in those days – made my way to their house for the dreaded death knock.

I gathered very little information of use from shocked and grieving relatives, but gleaned enough to learn the attack appeared unprovoked and unexpected. I went back and filed what I had, keeping to the facts and staying respectful to a grieving family.

The next day, the tabloids raged with hyperbole and headlines about Asian gang violence being “out of control”, even though there was no clear evidence of this. 

I later learnt the young man was a victim of circumstance; wrong place at the wrong time. The mainstream media at the time ran with the Asian gang narrative, fuelling stigmas about Vietnamese communities – even though the victim was of Korean descent. 

Fast forward to 2020 in the UK, where I have spent most of my career, and there are still examples where a lack of diversity not only reinforces stereotypes, but also leads to blind spots in coverage.

Quotas vs influence

In the UK, experts warn that there is a lack of diversity in influential parts of the news and programming food chain.

The BBC – one of the better performing media companies on ethnic diversity – has a target that 15% of its workforce should be black or ethnic minority (BAME), which is marginally higher than the population. The latest data I could find shows it is at about 13% (see chart).

On the surface, one could argue the BBC is representative of the UK population, but scratch beneath the raw data and a different picture emerges. 

The majority of the BBC operates from offices in London and Manchester, cities whose workforces are 40.6% and 35% BAME, respectively.

According to the latest Ofcom data, BAME representation at senior levels within the five major TV organisations is just 9% and the proportion of minority ethnic talent working in creative and content production – a crucial area when it comes to shaping on-screen output – has fallen from 9% to 8%.

In fact, BAME characters are overrepresented on-screen, including 36.7% in children’s programming and 25.9% in drama but underrepresented off-screen, making up about 8% of those working in important genres such as drama and factual.

Marcus Ryder, the acting chair of the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity and a former journalist at the BBC, said the problem is that not enough BAME talent is being placed in roles of influence to change a prevailing white British culture.

“I was working in news and current affairs and the programme which clearly shapes the culture is Panorama,” he said. “It’s one thing if you had 15% across the board in all kinds of programmes – which they don’t, by the way – but what you need if you really want to change that culture, is to look at key programmes like Panorama or Newsnight and make sure you have critical mass that might be more than 15%.”

Ryder said that having one or two BAME employees in a team of influence won’t change anything because they become isolated as a minority voice.

Poor diversity = poorer coverage

The outcome of this lack of diversity is a poorer understanding of stories and societal issues. Ryder said there are several examples that come to mind. 

British TV networks often station their most experienced reporters abroad and in the US correspondents are predominantly white.

Ryder said this has led to a blind spot in their US coverage, particularly during the Obama years and about issues pertaining to race, which has come to the fore again because of police brutality and the death of George Floyd. 

“American politics has been a racial story for the last 400 years, but we don’t think of it as a racial story,” Ryder said. “We still think of American politics as a ‘mainstream story’, which means a non-black story.”

Closer to home, Ryder believes the media missed another major story: how poor fire safety standards in social housing had led to a ticking time bomb. The media had not reported on flammable cladding until “the Grenfell Towers were burning down”. 

“We will miss the next Windrush story if we don’t have Black and Asian people in positions of editor responsibility,” he said. “Also, let’s not forget the ageing population and how we will support the Asian and Black population who are now going into retirement homes. It’s a massive story because they have different cultural needs and different amounts of wealth which they can rely upon in retirement. 

“But that’s not being covered because when we do cover our ageing population, the people that we take as the norm are invariably white.”

The trade press

This past couple of months has not only shone a light on racial inequality in society, it has led to soul searching across many parts of the media and the industries they cover.

I’ve personally reflected on my own publication, PRWeek, and whether our coverage is doing a good enough job to represent racially diverse talent and views.

The short answer is ‘no’, but it’s not from a position of ignorance or apathy. The truth is, when covering an industry that is 91% Caucasian – with a far smaller proportion in leadership roles – it can be difficult to find racially diverse views at short notice when the majority of your contacts are white. 

But just because it is difficult does not mean it is not worthwhile. In truth, it has not always been at the top of our minds to look for racially diverse views as much as it has been for gender. In journalism you are trained to seek out the most relevant views, and in the trade press there is usually an emphasis on industry leaders. 

This had to change, and we have taken important steps to address this, including creating a directory of BAME PR contacts across different categories and roles. 

We now always consider BAME voices in our articles where multiple sources are sought, and at our events. This behavioural change is a starting point, but has already benefited our coverage by providing a diverse range of voices and perspectives.

From earlier in my career to today, I have not only seen how a lack of racial diversity can distort and weaken coverage – I’ve also seen how improving it provides a more valuable reader experience. 

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Arvind Hickman is the news editor of PRWeek and has worked as a journalist and editor for 20 years. He has covered news, sport and business in his native Australia and the UK. Over the past six years, Arvind has worked in senior editorial roles at industry-leading titles in advertising, media and communications.

Twitter: @ArvindHickman
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/arvind-hickman-b5a6a517/

My allies never post Black squares

by Harriet Small Okot

Allyship is rooted in the practice of acting, listening and yielding one’s privilege, rather than guilt or a sense of being a saviour. The essential thing to remember is that it’s a learning process.

You’ll learn:

• That the black community needs committed advocates, not performative support from brands and individuals

• It’s normal to make mistakes when striving to be an ally – embrace the process as a chance to grow and improve

• About the four dimensions of intentionality, preventability, fault and locality and how these can help in the drive to become an ally

In this Instagram age, a black square, a message of solidarity with the correct hashtag and a rainbow filtered selfie earns you the title of an ally. 

Unlike others, I am less inclined to accord you the title on the basis of a photo that may have been screenshotted and neatly cropped for the metrics and optics. Anti-racism needs real allies to step forward and be the change that we want to see in the world.

When I think of an ally, two names come to mind. They are far removed from anybody that I know personally. I have watched the way they advocate for people who have been ‘othered’ or ‘less than’ for all their lives.

The first is Dr Richard Lapchick, who is often described as “the racial conscience of sport.” A man who in February 1978 was viciously attacked in his college office and left fighting for his life with the N-word carved on his stomach. To this day he remains committed and steadfast in the fight for equality. 

The other is actress and executive producer Ellen Pompeo, who advocated for Grey’s Anatomy to break the stereotype and have its first visibly Muslim character. 

In 2018, during a NET-A-PORTER Women in Television roundtable, her parting shot was: “This day has been incredible. There are a tonne of women in the room, but I don’t see enough colour, and I didn’t see enough colour when I walked into the room today. I had a meeting with a director of another project that I am doing. I said when I show up on set I would like to see the crew look like the world that I walk around in every day.” She went on to say: “As Caucasian people, it is our job.

The communications and public relations industry has many good people who have noble intentions or mean well, but this falls short. Active, vocal and tenacious advocates are required to create systemic change leading to the overdue equity that is needed.

Thinking about the future

Allyship is rooted in the practice of acting, learning, listening and yielding one’s privilege, rather than guilt or a sense of being a saviour. Depending on the situation or the cultural competence of the person who has chosen to be an ally, what one does will vary, but the essential thing to remember is that it is a learning process. Embrace mistakes as an opportunity to grow and evolve.

Yielding privilege entails using silent and loud power. Whether that is using networks, position, donations and platform to amplify a voice or publicly defend another, there will be the visible acts and secret moments to step forward.

Privilege is not a singular and will alter, as Professor and social commentator Roxanne Gay explained in a Marie Claire article On Making Black Lives Matter in 2016 after the murder of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile at the hands of the police. 

“We need people to stand up and take on the problems borne of oppression as their own, without remove or distance. We need people to do this even if they cannot fully understand what it’s like to be oppressed for their race or ethnicity, gender, sexuality, ability, class, religion, or other marker of identity. We need people to use common sense to figure out how to participate in social justice.”

Rethink performance and preparedness

Take time to understand intent versus impact. There will be times when you get it wrong. You may have had good intentions, but the impact has been harmful. 

For example, by explaining away an experience of discrimination faced by a marginalised person as something in their head, you are gaslighting. While to you, it may have seemed like a well-intended comment, it compounds the trauma and silences the aggrieved. As a person with privilege regardless of the form, you will always see, understand and experience the world through your own lens.

There are four dimensions to consider:

Intentionality: There has to be a conscious effort to do the work in a meaningful way, to educate oneself and step up.

Preventability: The individual can avoid hurting someone by asking for permission, educating themselves before coming into a conversation or situation which will demand empathy and knowledge. 

Fault: The realisation that responsibility lies not with the person who has been discriminated against, so it is essential to avoid practices such as tone policing, gaslighting and inferring intention. 

Locality: The relationship that the ally has with the person who is from a marginalised group or connection to the person who has perpetrated the act of discrimination. 

Start with what you have at hand

Education and resources are now available in abundance and it doesn’t cost you anything to read an essay, watch a Ted Talk, or listen to a podcast. 

Diversify the content that you consume and your social media feeds to include a range of voices, different ideologies and engage with peers who may not be in your traditional circles. For example, read publications like The Atlantic, watch TV shows such as I May Destroy You and listen to podcasts like Code Switch by NPR or A Gay and a Nongay.

Pace yourself because while it may be your day one, it’s my third decade dealing with racism and sexism. Your mind was never designed to consume the level of pain, trauma, guilt or other feelings that will be invoked. 

Be ready for the hard moments and reckoning that you will have to do with yourself.

Questions to ask include:

• Would I do this if nobody was watching? 

• Am I centring myself in this narrative? 

• Is this a moment for me to watch rather than speak?

• Should I be making the victim of the discrimination responsible for my education?

• Am I ready to take on criticism with grace and dignity without tone policing or justifying my mistake?

• When I am in an uncomfortable situation, will I support the minority or side with the dominant group? 

• What research and work can I do before showing up? 

• What biases do I have?

• Are there areas where I can be more powerful behind the scenes?

• Would I continue if nobody thanked me?

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Harriet Small Okot is a communications consultant and the founder of NO.84. She has 12 years’ experience in communications, journalism, and public affairs at companies such as Hackney Council, The UK Civil Aviation Authority, Transport for London, Sky, Merton Council, the European Union, NHS, and titles across Hearst Media. She is the winner of the IoIC Rising Star Award 2019, where she also sits on the FutureNet committee. In 2018 her ‘Be Epic’ campaign for Merton Council was shortlisted for an Employee Engagement award in the IC category. Harriet also curates the blog commsoveracoffee.com and is an ambassador for the Taylor Bennett Foundation.

Twitter: @HarrietSmallies
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/harrietsmall/
Instagram: @HarrietSmallies

We are not OK

by Nathalie Abiodun

The murder of George Floyd by Officer Derek Chauvin along with Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas K. Lane – is crushing. It is another lesson of agony and inner turmoil that none of us asked for, but we need to take a seat and listen to.

You’ll learn:

• How societal systems and frameworks perpetuate the systemic alienation and suppression of people of colour

• The role of Black Twitter in reclaiming narratives

• Ways in which you can take action

Agony and empathy are not dictated by geographical borders or political boundaries. Black people in the UK are in pain. Chauvin’s knee on George’s neck is an all-too-familiar metaphorical picture of what it feels like to be black – anywhere. We hurt as George – a kind and loving giant – was killed because he could be killed; was silenced because he could be silenced. 

We are upset as Londoners, Mancunians, Britons etc because being black precedes citizenship – all day, every day. No, we can no longer put on a brave face for our white colleagues as we see that yet again how being black is positioned as a handicap. This is not unique to America – it’s a universally black experience. 

On this side of the pond, we’ve witnessed the theatre of police brutality against black people and instigating words by US President Donald Trump following recent Black Lives Matter protests (and past incidents of injustices). Ironically, such inflammatory responses only fan the flames of why people are marching.

The bullish actions of the police, national guard and seat holder of the most powerful position in the world, is a picture of how the manipulators of justice are psychologically armed, openly goaded and lawfully protected. It’s a picture of the judiciary, governmental policies, and societal frameworks that perpetuate the systemic alienation and suppression of people of colour. George’s pleas for breath, the first gift God gave him, is the sound of failing humanity. 

The impact of racial injustice, discrimination and microaggression on mental health, self-esteem and personal perspective is not something that is openly discussed but it is widely felt. Personal, local, national and global stories of discrimination, both past and currently lived, form a cancerous cluster of confusion and indignation as to why the world is like this. 

Trying to navigate this understanding and showing up to your 9 to 5 is another thing all together. The workplace is a hotbed of microaggressions upheld by systematic discrimination and tact. Honestly, many of us are tired of being tired. Dear white people, that is a reality your colleagues are dealing with.

Black Twitter: Reclaiming narratives

In such times, social media has become an ally. “Black Twitter” is a real thing. A global community and a more-often safe space to vent your frustrations, along with other people of colour. 

Not just on Twitter, on other social media and communicative platforms such as WhatsApp, we have used them as an outlet to laugh, ideate solutions, and take control back of narratives that are damaging to black people, narratives that are often distorted or part of a mainstream agenda. Taking control of the narrative is something we all can do not just on a public stage but within our social groups and chats, and what we personally choose to feed on. 

Black people have trusted social media to share the truth on examples of injustice compared to mainstream media. Many of us knew about George’s murder before it was reported by the BBC et al. That is not because the early bird wins the race but rather, integrity reporting is something the mainstream struggles or chooses to ignore so we look to other sources.

Now we use first-hand live accounts and videos on social media, and social commentary to fact check mainstream reports. Now we green light the stories that would have been swept under the carpet, instead of waiting for an editor to approve it for public consumption. A lot of reporters and publications are playing catch up. 

Thanks to social media reporting and social commentary, we are controlling the narrative. Whether it’s reported by the mainstream or not – the narrative in our minds and communities because victim shaming is disproportionately higher in stories about people of colour. 

When a video shows the unsolicited murder of Ahmaud Arbery – we see it, believe it and tune out the subsequent media reports that bring up allegations against the victim of prior thefts and trespassing. 

When we hear about the unarmed Mark Duggan shot by police – we tune out the images circulated by the press of Mark with his fingers in a “gun sign” to appease the killing of another unarmed black man. 

As we’ve seen with the rise of social media, we can all lend our voice to issues of any kind. Your voice is important. Your words have value. 

I am not okay, but I am not silent.

Black. Lives. Matter. 

Justice for the black people that don’t make our timelines. 

In the cases of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Shukri Abdi, Christopher Kapessa, Belly Mujinga, and more, these are but a few ways in which we can take action: 

Donate: You can donate to anti-racism charities, networks and organisations, including Black Lives Matter, or to families around the globe directly impacted by racial injustices. 

Educate: https://blacklivesmatter.com/ (Is an international movement) 

Economic empowerment: Which brands and organisations support your values? Which are those that don’t? Let’s do the research together. Your investment is your power. 

Voice: Speak up. Knowledge sharing is vital.

Petition: Justice for George Floyd | Justice for Breonna Taylor | Justice for Shukri Abdi | Christopher Kapessa | #WeCan’tBreathe | and unfortunately more. Google is your friend: there are petitions that you can sign your name to. 

Justice for George. Justice for Breonna Taylor. Justice for Ahmaud. Justice for Shukri Abdi. Justice for the black people that don’t make our timelines.

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Nathalie Abiodun Writing your biography, especially in the third person, is an incredibly awkward ordeal. Biographies should be inspiring versus a means to compare each other’s achievements or measure our worth against what we haven’t yet achieved. So, I will keep this short and sweet, and in the first person. 

I am an advocate of the power of voice. I believe we should be unapologetic and open in our conversations about what stirs us, and trust that it will inspire others to do the same. The goal isn’t to be the smartest in the room but to either listen or speak up, or both. In that, my passion for transparent communications and conversations comes alive in advocacy for diversity consciousness, intersectionality and social impact. My life’s journey has been paved with many reminders and evidence that I can “do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13), and today, as you read my work, I am reminded of this truth yet again. Let’s use our diverse platforms and talents for a greater purpose beyond our lives.

Twitter: @abiodunnathalie
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nathalie-abiodun-a0198398 
Web: nathalieabiodunpr.wordpress.com/ 

#BlackoutTuesday: What’s Your Story?

by Katrina Marshall

#BlackoutTuesday may appear to be an easy way for brands to demonstrate their inclusivity credentials, but true allies need to move beyond performative behaviour and instigate and sustain real change.

You’ll learn:

• How to listen from a position of privilege

• Why it’s time to move away from vanity projects

• The importance of learning about racism and finding the tools for change 

Spin doctors; the colouring-in department; comms lovelies… we’ve all endured the derogatory slurs used against the public relations and communications industry. But there’s one I’m OK with and it’s the one I want you to think about today – declared Blackout Tuesday. 

Storyteller. 

Whether it is a video production, a crisis communications strategy or messaging for a campaign, that is what I am. I tell stories. So today I ask my colleagues in comms, what story are you telling? 

More than that: what story will be told about you in years to come about last week, today and the months to come? When the fires burn out. When a verdict is rendered. When your Twitter feed goes back to predictable hashtags and pictures of puppies?

I am, of course, referring to the international outrage over the murder of George Floyd – a Black American man – at the hands of four white police officers: two of whom had a history of misconduct. One of whom kept his knee on the neck of an unconscious black man for a lethal 8 minutes and 46 seconds - 2 minutes and 53 seconds of that time the man was unresponsive and bleeding from the mouth.

Here in the UK, the racism is a lot more subtle. It’s kinda like the rain: fine and almost indecipherable but over time, consistently applied, will soak you to the bone. 

I want the story you tell, to be of alertness and compassion. I want the story that is told of you as a comms manager, IC manager or HR manager to be one of listening from a position of privilege. 

Of acts of solidarity that go beyond the performative. To be one of recognizing the collective anger, exhaustion and generational trauma that is affecting countless members of your team and their wider communities especially today but for decades before this.

I also want you to dispense with the notion that the riots and rage spilling out into the streets from the capital to the bible belt of America is something that is happening to “those people” “over there”. By now the reaction is global. 

To carry on as if it is nothing to do with you, your team or your community is to perpetuate the already problematic view that the PR industry is little more than an echo chamber for people who all look the same, with similar backgrounds. 

It perpetuates the view that efforts at diversity and inclusion are little more than vanity projects designed to score CPD points and appease murmuring middle-class guilt. These issues are demonstrated differently in Britain, but they are as pervasive as they have always been.

Not so fast

So, if you’re sitting back in the midst of this crisis silently congratulating yourself for keeping the team ticking over with Google hangouts & Zoom calls during the COVID-19 lockdown. If you’ve sent out the well-meaning “It’s OK not to be OK” all staff email. If you’ve fiddled with deliverables and deadlines to give leeway to people juggling childcare, pet care, single parenting, caregiving and self-isolation. If you’ve cross checked the “mental health awareness in the workplace” guidelines and everyone “seems” to be doing OK. 

If you’ve done all those things and not thought to at least open the door for a discussion on the repercussions of the George Floyd murder, I’d say ease off on patting yourself on the back just yet.

Because the raging fires of violent unrest we are watching from Amsterdam to Washington and here in London, are only a physical manifestation of a collective rage people of colour have been feeling for generations.

Time to be the change

But maybe as a manager you’re not switched on to notice that. And that’s OK. But now is your chance to flip that switch. Watching men who could be your brother or first cousin be brutally murdered for simply existing is draining. 

Knowing that these men and women are profiled and killed because the social contract we’ve made as humans with each other has been broken by white people plants a poisonous seed in one’s psyche. 

Knowing that even if you’re in a position of authority with the resources to make tangible differences, you will be dismissed as “the angry black woman”. Knowing that being part of the change you want to see doesn’t necessarily mean you are empowered to affect that change because in being “the first” there is still only you.

Imagine walking with the weight of those dilemmas every day and then being fed platitudes like “what does race have to do with it?” So, my fellow storyteller, in truth, checking in on how the events of the past week have affected your colleagues is the bare minimum of what you should be doing.

The reception

Here’s the thing, though: not everyone is going to respond quickly, easily or favourably. Some will be the only minorities on the team and will simply not wish to be that vulnerable with people who do not share their cultural grief. Others will appreciate the gesture but say nothing. Waiting to see if it is more tokenism at work or the signalling of true seed change. 

The reality is, we’ve been here before with lip service showing up where we believed tangible action would be. We’ve been trotted out as firsts and onlys while being utterly ignored at decision-making time. We’ve been turned into yet another infuriating British acronym (BAME) which I have pointedly refused to use here. 

Because this is just another box to keep minorities in to make others feel comfortable about their place in society. Simply put: no matter how much you claim to empathise, your gesture to check in with your team is not about you. No one owes you a cookie cutter response. The best you can hope for is the knowledge that somehow down the line you contributed to tangible change. Do not be too quick to affix the term ally to your Twitter bio unless you’ve spent more time listening than you have talking.

If, heaven forbid, you are not at all bothered about how three months of COVID-19 and a week of murder by policeman in American could rattle even the calmest team member from a minority background, then at least give them the berth to be unsettled, to miss deadlines, to be a little snippy, to be vacant, to be checked out… because what you are witnessing is grief. If it was a pet or a blood relative, I’d like to think you’d give them at least that space. 

I cannot tell you how to execute this action. Others are far better at providing those tools. But I can tell you your action needs to be part of the story you tell. It does those without a platform a disservice to think we who have one, can only speak up, act up, level up or boss up when we have all the answers, all the research, all the knowledge and the capacity and energy. 

Activism is thirsty work. And if you’re open to learning as you go, no one will crucify you for trying to do the best you can with the tools you are given.

Thank you to the colleagues and allies at #FuturePRoof for sharing this platform and being part of the change.

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Katrina Marshall has nearly 20 years’ experience in journalism and communications and is a seasoned Barbadian journalist who cut her teeth in radio and television before moving onto corporate communications and feature writing.

She demonstrates solid experience in producing content for all media for international news organizations including the BBC World Service and the UK Guardian. As a corporate communications and public relations professional her hallmarks are discretion, attention to detail and fastidious dedication to preparation and research. 

Most recently her career has seen her focus on writing long form features and op eds focusing on social justice and diversity and inclusion in the UK, where she has made her home.

Her current pursuits see her move seamlessly between the UK’s communications and public relations industry and strict journalism and feature writing.

Katrina is most comfortable both in front of and behind the microphone but can often be found whipping up a sumptuous curry for friends, where the rum and laughter flow freely.

Twitter: @kat_isha
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/katrina-marshall-5ba61b6a

Our approach to improving diversity and inclusion is broken

by Julian Obubo

Diversity and inclusion may be a hot topic but there has been little change in terms of workplace culture. It’s time to face the fact that a lack of diversity is a direct result of racism.

You’ll learn:

• Racism is systemic in the world and workplace

• Addressing racism requires leaders to listen, be uncomfortable and vulnerable and to challenge clients and colleagues

• Recognising our complicity in maintaining the status quo is the fastest way to effect change

The summer of 2020 will hopefully be remembered as a turning point in the global conversation about racism. It saddens me that it took the murder of George Floyd to get us here, but I’m cautiously optimistic that we are truly at an inflection point. 

Anti-racism books are flying off the shelves on both sides of the Atlantic, statues are being pulled off plinths and millions of people have participated in Black Lives Matter marches around the world...many still are.

This necessary reckoning has also been happening in the professional world. Corporations are having long overdue assessments of their own company culture and many are finding that they have created a workplace that is at best unwelcoming and at worst, actively hostile to people of colour (POC). 

In the world of PR and comms, the CIPR published its ‘Race in PR’ report this June. This found that diversity in the industry is in decline, despite the popularity of the term. Many BAME professionals report a lack of equal opportunities and fair treatment, as well as microaggressions and unconscious biases. 

Reading the report, I tried to square two conflicting notions. How can diversity in the PR industry be in decline when it seems to be a so called ‘hot topic’ in the industry? How does an industry remain 92% white in 2020 when so many initiatives, panels, forums and pledges have been made by agencies and leaders over the last few years? 

Clearly a lot of talk has been going on, but the report makes it evident that not a lot of action has been taken. It took the re-ignition of the Black Lives Matter movement to answer these questions for me. Not much was changing because we have tried to tackle diversity as though the need for it isn’t a direct result of racism. 

Racism is what others do

Tackling diversity without addressing racism is like mopping and drying a floor without fixing the source of the leak. 

For too long, racism has been viewed as such a heavy and serious word that should not be brought into the workplace. Racism was what white nationalists and neo-Nazis did, racism just didn’t happen in the urbane quarters of the PR world. 

We viewed the lack of diversity in the industry largely as a short-term problem that could be fixed with a few novel HR initiatives and a lot of goodwill. We attempted to decouple the dearth of non-white faces in our industry from this nation’s history of official and unofficial racism and discrimination. 

Our prevailing approach relied on the “pipeline myth” that there simply aren’t that many Black people entering the industry and therefore the 92% figure was just a fact of life. 

Not many wanted to ask the question “why aren’t there many Black people choosing to make a career in comms”, because asking that would have peeled off the thin veneer of progress and revealed the many barriers and obstacles faced by people of colour in our industry. 

It’s bigger than us

The lack of diversity in PR and other industries is a manifestation of a myriad of systemic issues that cannot be fixed in isolation, or by the private sector alone. 

We cannot fix the lack of diversity without a broad understanding of the insidious racism that usually comes out as “I’m not sure they will be the right fit” when interviewing a potential candidate. 

We cannot make progress on the 92% figure if the only way an agency socialises is with pints at the pub, excluding Muslims who don’t drink for religious reasons. We will continue to be stuck in this sorry situation if we don’t acknowledge the origin of stereotypes like the “angry black woman” and how it can be reproduced and reinforced in the workplace. 

And we will never make meaningful progress if we continue to ignore the fact that a society that proudly celebrates slave owners who owned the forebears of fellow citizens might not be as welcoming as we’d like to think. 

Fixing diversity in PR means fixing the stories we tell ourselves of how modern Britain came to be. It means reckoning with the fact that restricting the freedoms, opportunities and security of immigrants will have long term consequences in social mobility and a sense of belonging. 

Fixing diversity in PR means actually listening to employees of colour when they point to instances of racism they have faced, or when they identify a cultural blind spot in the creative work being produced. It means willing to be uncomfortable and vulnerable, it means challenging clients and colleagues and sometimes it will require resigning accounts or initiating disciplinary action. 

Fixing diversity will require sacrifice. It will demand a mindset and behaviour shift that goes well beyond the office. Fixing diversity is not a workplace problem, it’s a society problem that workplaces can and should have a role in fixing, but it cannot be left to them alone. 

In fixing diversity, the work will never feel like it’s done. It will be a constant struggle. For me, meaningful progress will be made when POC staff can honestly say they believe their white colleagues will stand up to racism outside the workplace and within their own family or friendship circles. 

Change happens when diversity and anti-racism is valued outside as well as inside the workplace. Change happens when we acknowledge our complicity in maintaining the status quo by not speaking up against or challenging institutions that are resistant to change. 

Change happens when we stop thinking about diversity and inclusion as a human resources issue, but as a human relations issue.

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Julian Obubo is Brand Strategy Director at Manifest, a brand communications agency with offices in London, Manchester, Stockholm and New York where he also heads up the diversity and inclusion programme. 

He hosts Manifest’s industry podcast Fresh Meet. Julian was included in the 2017 cohort of PR Week’s 30 Under 30.

Twitter: @JulianObubo
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/julian-obubo-9a71a03/
Instagram: @JulianObubo

#FuturePRoof 4: An uplifting look at BME talent

The fourth edition of #FuturePRoof is published today celebrating BME talent. 

Following a crowdsourced model characteristic of the #FuturePRoof series, its aim is to reassert public relations as strategic management function and make best practice available to all.

Topics range from audience targeting, social media, partnership working, reputation, pitching to radio and community building through to public affairs, internal comms, leadership, coaching and the psychology of decision-making, 

A piece on media diversity provides an important view on what happens when journalists don’t represent the communities they serve, while two further chapters deliver excellent insight into how to hire and nurture diverse talent.

The book concludes with a chapter on COVID-19, purpose and PR, looking at how 2020 has ushered in a new era for strategic public relations.

Teeming with smart thinking and advice from in house and agency practitioners, academics, journalists and recruiters, this particular #FuturePRoof book also shines a light on the systemic issues underpinning racism in the workplace and provides guidance for those keen to stamp this out. 

Rax Lakhani, CMPRCA, Chair of the PRCA’s Diversity Network, said: “In its fourth volume, #FutureProof succeeds in employing an optimistic lens to focus our attention on the stark reality of our industry’s poor record on racial and ethnic diversity. 

“This anthology of essays demonstrates beyond any doubt the abundance of BAME talent that is prevalent within our profession and it is reassuring to see issues of race, ethnicity and cultural diversity being given the prominence and urgency they clearly deserve.”

Chair of the CIPR’s Diversity and Inclusion Network, Avril Lee, said: “#FuturePRoof 4 speaks to the exciting, innovative and exceptional talent of BAME PR professionals and it shows that our industry can only flourish by embracing diversity and challenging the status quo. 

“Now is the time to celebrate BAME talent – and more importantly, now is the time to progress and reward it equally.”

Dr Martina Topić, Senior Lecturer in Public Relations, Leeds Business School, commented: “Sarah Waddington’s #FuturePRoof 4 celebrating BME talent provides plenty of real-life examples of BAME practitioners sharing experiences on how racism and lack of recognition of diversity influenced their career progress and their daily lives. It is as heart breaking as it is useful for informing future research and policy changes.”

#FuturePRoof 4 is dedicated to Elizabeth Bananuka for her work on BME PR Pros and The Blueprint diversity mark. 

The authors are Advita Patel, Alicia Solanki, Andrea Ttofa, Annique Simpson, Anouchka Burton, Arvind Hickman, Asif Choudry, Evadney Campbell, Harriet Small Okot, Joanna Abeyie, Julian Obubo, Katrina Marshall, Katy Howell, Koray Camgöz, Mita Dhullipala, Nathalie Abiodun, Rohan Shah, Trudy Lewis and Zaiba Malik.

While the book can be purchased at cost via Blurb and on the Kindle, a chapter a day will also be released via the #FuturePRoof blog and shared via @weareproofed.

#FuturePRoof 4: Foreword

by Sarah Waddington

I need to level with you. The idea for this latest #FuturePRoof book came to me last Autumn following Elizabeth Bananuka’s BME PR Pros Conference.

My agency Astute.Work sponsored the event – the first ever featuring only black, Asian, mixed race and ethnic minority speakers - and the line-up of talent and expertise blew me away.

Elizabeth challenged people to use their industry positions and platforms as a vehicle for change. I knew there and then I wanted to do something similar through #FuturePRoof. 

Fast forward six months and a hiatus due to the Coronavirus pandemic and it was the reaction within my network to the tragic death of George Floyd at the hands of US police, which spurred me properly into action. 

Today, I’m proud to launch the first #FutureProof book featuring only BAME talent and you’ll see the bar is set high. 

A few things I should mention. The first is that throughout the book there are references to BME, BAME and people of colour and I left it to contributors to decide the terminology they were comfortable with. I know there are those who believe grouping people in such a way can be detrimental to a wider understanding of different backgrounds and cultures but hopefully these terms work to make the point in this particular context.

Secondly, this was never meant to be a book about ‘black issues’, which are in fact cultural and societal issues, not black or BME - just like pay inequality isn’t a women’s issue. This was always to be a forward-thinking look at best practice within public relations, with the purpose of reasserting PR’s value to business. 

Where contributors asked if they could write from a racial diversity and inclusivity standpoint, that was in their gift. And I’m glad some of the amazing authors took that decision. 

I’ve opened the book with a thought-provoking article from Julian Obubo that I would urge everyone to read and share with their networks. I’ve often said to white colleagues struggling to know how best to address the big diversity problem faced by our industry, that starting from the standpoint that we are all inherently racist can be helpful.

I attach no blame to this; we are all, from being small, conditioned to think and act in a certain way – but I do challenge us to consider what this means in terms of our (often unintended) behaviours and the consequences.

The first chapter is then followed by three which illustrate the scale of change that’s needed. Katrina Marshall, Nathalie Abiodun and Harriet Small Okot all write from the heart about their experiences and allyship. The four grouped together are a powerful read that will hopefully provoke more of us to be the change we want to see in the world. 

Further into the book, I’m privileged to share the work of some of the leading experts in their fields. From audience targeting, social media, partnership working, reputation, pitching to radio and community building through to public affairs, internal comms, leadership, coaching and the psychology of decision-making, you’d be hard pressed to come away from the book without something to help you improve practice.

A piece on media diversity provides an important look at what happens when journalists don’t represent the communities they serve, while two further chapters deliver excellent insight into how we can hire and nurture diverse talent, to everyone’s benefit. 

I’m grateful to all those who have contributed for making a book that I am very proud of – and of which I hope they will be too. 

I’m going to finish where I started, with Elizabeth Bananuka. It seems only right to dedicate this book to Elizabeth for being the original inspiration for #FuturePRoof: Edition Four. 

And so, my call to action is this. If this book inspires you, like me, to make a greater commitment to diversity and inclusion, please check out her latest drive for parity, The Blueprint. I make no secret I’m on the Advisory Board and will forever be grateful to Elizabeth for asking me to get involved with such a landmark industry initiative.

To steal her own words off the website: “The Blueprint diversity mark helps organisations attract, retain and nurture diverse talent. It helps talented Black, Asian, Mixed Race and Ethnic Minority comms pros find employers committed to supporting them to achieve their career dreams.” 

What’s that if not something to get behind. Thank you, Elizabeth. You’re an inspiration.

www.thisistheblueprint.co.uk

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Sarah Waddington is an experienced management and PR consultant helping organisations to articulate their purpose and optimise performance through her agency Astute.Work. 

A pioneer of best practice, she was awarded the CIPR’s Sir Stephen Tallents Medal for exceptional achievement in public relations and is the winner of the PRCA’s Outstanding Contribution in Digital Award. 

Having built a reputation as an ethics tsar and diversity and inclusivity champion, she is a strong advocate of accountable leadership and women in business and believes in helping young talent break through. 

Sarah is a Past President of the CIPR, a PRCA Fellow, an IoD Ambassador, a member of the Northern Power Women Power List and is a regular speaker at industry events. Her PR-related blog is one of the top ten in the UK according to Vuelio.

The founder and editor of #FuturePRoof, a series of books and community aimed at reasserting the role of public relations as a management function, Sarah also co-edited a white paper with Stephen Waddington characterising the public relations agency business and another exploring the mental wellbeing of the profession. She has published another two papers on disinformation and influencer marketing.

Sarah is a graduate of Oxford Saïd’s Executive Leadership programme, has completed Non Executive Director training with NEDA at the London Stock Exchange and holds a certificate in Organisational Leadership from the Institute of Leadership and Management. She has an MA in Marketing from Northumbria University, a BA (Hons) in French and Media from Leeds University and is a Google Squared digital marketing alumna.

When she’s not at work you’ll find her busy being Mum to two boys and walking her cocker spaniel Madge. You can also catch her being rather noisy on Twitter @Mrs_Wadds.

Twitter: @Mrs_Wadds
Web: Astute.Work

Nudge, Nudge; Wink, Wink - How a Nudge in the Right Direction can Affect our Choices

by Anthony Tattum

Public Relations is no longer a matter of presenting a brand’s assets. Today, we must break through the noise to evoke emotion and promote instinct in action.

Psychology: The Paternal Advisor to PR

Traditional PR and content marketing have been changing opinions, affecting attitudes and influencing people’s behaviours for decades.

Until recently, these strategies have relied upon a classic theory of rational thinking; dependent on conscious choices and ignoring long-held heuristics and biases.

Psychologists have been aware of these biases for a long time. Yet it was not until recent pioneers of neoclassical behavioural economics, such as Richard Shotton and Daniel Kahneman*, emerged that PRs began to sit up and listen.

With the evolution of social media campaigns, influencer programmes and digital technologies, this shift towards the emotional epicentre of consumers became paramount in breaking through the noise and attracting attention for brands and campaigns.

Pride in Psychology and PR

For more than 20 years, my firm [Big Cat] has drawn on human instincts and turned them into powerful communications for all kinds of brands, charities and destinations to get people to buy, care, think, feel and ultimately, ‘do’.

To make these actions possible, we’ve helped people with the ‘heavy-lifting’ of decision-making occurring everyday by playing to consumers’ shortcuts, heuristics and biases. 

We provide them the right nudges to inevitably make our clients’ campaigns more powerful. 

So what are these biases that make our brands #FuturePRoof? Let’s explore:

The Stairway to Brand Heaven

The most obvious bias for communications’ campaigns is social proof. Social proof is an innate trust in others’ beliefs, such that if a group you relate to are interested in something, you too will become intrigued.

Ever been guilty of rubbernecking on a motorway during a crash? Yep, that’s social proof!

In campaign messaging, social proof can have dramatic effects. For example, Richard Shotton* conducted a test whereby 300 participants were provided with a survey about a new beer entering the UK market. One group was told simply where the ingredients came from, whilst the other group was told this beverage was South Africa’s Most Popular Beer. 

To which beer would you have responded better? I certainly would have chosen the latter, as would Richard’s Most Popular Beer group, who doubled their ambition to sample the beer. A thirsty bunch eh?!

As PRs, we are adept at telling the stories behind our clients’ brands. Some clients will already hold a strong reputation from these classic tales. Yet, despite their popularity, they can still continue to climb the stairway to brand heaven by tweaking their messaging to fit with the social proof bias. 

Never underestimate the power of people. All you need is an interested group, a slight tweak to your messaging and a multitude of appropriate platforms to reach your target audience to create a social proof-boosted brand.

The Broken Escalator Phenomenon

I don’t know about you, but I tend to wobble when I walk up an escalator that isn’t moving. My brain doesn’t catch-up fast enough with my feet. 

Naturally, I thought nothing of this wobble, until I read Adolfo Bronstein and Raymond Reynolds* work which explain that the broken escalator phenomenon is indeed a real concept with which most struggle. 

One sees an escalator and unconsciously prepares the body: “Right, moving equipment”. But of course, this is not the case. Habit is indeed a bias notoriously difficult to budge.

That said, budging is possible with the right communications!

A classic example from Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO is Sainsbury’s Try Something New Today campaign. 

Having noticed their customers were sleep-shopping, i.e. buying the same goods over and over again, Sainsbury’s decided to wake them up with a brand new campaign encouraging additional ingredients to daily meals. 

Through the influence of Jamie Oliver, the recipe cards placed ever so tactfully next to the ingredients and the ubiquitous TV ads, this simple statement earned Sainsbury’s £2.5 billion in extra revenue (IPA, 2008). Thank you, AMVBBDO!

What occurred here was a disruption to habit at an unconscious level through constant communication and a true understanding of one’s audience. Research pays ladies and gents!

But it’s not just day-to-day disruptions that can affect consumer behaviour. Perhaps some of Sainsbury’s customers were experiencing milestones in their lives e.g. marriage, moving, retiring or GOD FORBID turning any age with a “9” at the end (thank you Daniel Pink* and your nod to the “nine-enders”). In these instances too, consumers become more malleable to change and habits become easier to break.

So what do we take away here? Habits are NOT unbreakable and people can change (excuse the cliché). You can help people along in their consumer journey by understanding, researching and defining your audience to ensure your communications meet your business and behavioural objectives whilst giving people a nudge in the right direction to break their habits.

A China Plate vs A Napkin: The Ultimate Face-Off

If you were presented a brownie on a napkin, would you be happy to pay £3.50? What about if the brownie was on a china plate? OK, now what if I told you, you get the brownie on a china plate AND it was coated with a thick, creamy chocolate icing, topped with an organically-grown glacier cherry? Other than making you hungry, I imagine you would answer these questions based on expectancy theory. 

This tasty little experiment was conducted by Brian Wansink* and expanded into more luxury sectors by Richard Shotton. Both results came back the same: most people are willing to pay more for a product that is presented splendidly with a description to match, as expectations are higher for this product than the one provided on e.g. a napkin. 

It is well known in eCommerce that well-crafted product descriptions increase conversion by orders of magnitude, which is why PR and Communications experts are hired. Yet with the ever-increasing impetus on returning investment, we PR and marketing communications professionals must display our added value to prove our contribution to brands and the bottom line.

Therefore, as our toolkit and wordsmithing responsibilities expand, we must not become complacent. We must comprehend the entire customer journey to ensure it is china plates and not napkins that our customers experience at every touchpoint. 

Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink - The End for Now… We Think

Social Proof, Habits and Expectancy Theory are just a few of the many cognitive biases that nudge consumers in the right direction. PR and Communications’ professionals must understand their audiences, platforms and presentation to make brand messaging as effective as possible.

Indeed, we are social creatures, prone to trust and dependent on the groups with whom we find familiarity, ultimately leading to easier decision-making.

We are habitual creatures, reliant on networks previously built to guide us through life safely and smoothly.

And finally, we are creatures of expectation, drawn in by semantics and associations to help make every day and extravagant decisions.

With the increasing need for accountability, it is important now, more than ever to understand our audiences and the details that make brands #FuturePRoof.

* For more examples on applying behavioural science to your communications campaigns see: 

• The Choice Factory by Richard Shotton

• Thinking Slow and Fast by Daniel Kahnemann

• The Broken Escalator Phenomenon by Raymond Reyndolds & Adolfo. Bronstein

• When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel Pink

• Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink

• Decoded by Phil Barden 

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Anthony Tattum is a PR and Marketing Specialist/CEO at Big Cat Agency. For over 20 years, Anthony has helped grow global and independent brands, equipping him with insight, experience and the desire to make a difference no matter the brief or size of project.

The recently rebranded, integrated Big Cat Agency is aiming to be a Top 5 UK independent Marketing Communications Agency, boasting clients across many areas including Retail, Tourism, Hospitality, Health and Wellbeing, and Charity. 

Anthony is also the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising City Head for Birmingham and the Midlands.

Big Cat Agency: https://bigcatagency.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/anthonytattum
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonytattum/

Crisis knowledge management: Where to start

by Jennifer Sanchis 

The economic locomotive has so badly derailed that it is now certain: there is no going back to normality as we knew it. Especially in the UK.

Some businesses have stood out for their badly-handled crisis response. 

In the early crossfire of criticism, Virgin’s Richard Branson was branded as one of the real villains of Britain’s coronavirus crisis. Travelodge received a spate of negative comments for its handling of homeless and vulnerable people in the midst of the initial crisis. McDonald’s found itself in turmoil after four workers in Chicago filed a class-action lawsuit for failing to adopt government safety measures.

Bad examples of Covid-19 crisis response have been rife.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Some organisations like Asda, Gap and Mark & Spencer, to name a few, have struck a chord for their leadership, authenticity and solidarity.

PR practitioners have a role to play in ensuring brands do the right thing as we learn to live with Coronavirus and move forward to recovery. 

Thinking about the future

We are not all on an equal footing for recovery. As professional communicators, a new lesson is to understand how different businesses and sectors have been impacted and how the information we hold can help our employers make informed decisions and take appropriate action. Ultimately, be #FuturePRoof (sorry, it was too tempting).

A recovery strategy should be evidence-based and embrace crisis knowledge management. 

This relates to the monitoring of key sources of information leading through a crisis (eg WHO, NHS England, Public Health England, etc); and also encompasses the collection and analysis of data internally to help guide organisational decisions and stakeholder management.

Rethink performance and preparedness

A tailored response paving the way for a recovery strategy means that leaders and decision-makers research and assess the degree to which their organisation contributed to the crisis and the history of how they’ve responded in times of crisis. 

There are four dimensions to consider:

• Intentionality: The degree to which the crisis was created purposefully by a member or members of the organisation.

• Preventability: The degree to which the crisis could have been avoided by the organisation.

• Fault: The degree to which the organisation can be held accountable for the crisis.

• Locality: The degree to which the crisis is an internal matter.

While Covid-19 might have taken us all by surprise and business may not have intentionally contributed to the pandemic, the question to ask is whether brands could have done something differently, something better in their response – and how they intend to behave going forward.

For practitioners keen to demonstrate the strategic value of public relations, there are a number of steps that can be taken to help guide the way.

The first is to gather data to feed into the company’s mid to post-crisis review. Areas to investigate include policy and leadership, structure and procedures and people and culture. The assessment should be honest and offer a 360° overview of the business.

Start with what you have at hand

Internal activities and communications usually constitute an absolute goldmine of information for decision-makers in times of crisis. From employees to stakeholders, legal teams to directors, data can be gathered from the different meetings and calls that took place internally (provided that this is compliant with privacy guidelines, of course), but also from the organisation’s newsletters, surveys and social platforms. 

Questions to ask include:

• Escalation of the crisis: Did we escalate the crisis on time? If not, what prevented this? What could we have done better? 

• Decisions: Did we get the right people at the right time? Did the crisis team define SMART objectives? How did we assess our progress? How were key decisions perceived?

• Implementation: How were important decisions communicated internally? Was accurate and sufficient information provided in a timely manner? Were all the targeted audiences reached? Did everybody within the organisation understand the effectiveness of the crisis response plan and were the facilities/tools in place to support this? 

The AMEC framework can help with knowing what to measure. For example: 

• The volume of information in relation to the Coronavirus crisis (eg the topics discussed, by whom and through which channels of communication)

• The quality of information communicated

• The quality of relationships (interpersonal trust with key stakeholders and audiences)

• Communication channels (with comparisons between official and unofficial channels)

• The sentiment of the collected data (any positive or negative stories? Incidents?)

All these things can help PR practitioners provide recommendations to limit potential reputational damage, increase preparedness and work on improvement strategies.

Recovery should present a new opportunity: the chance to appear to a larger audience in a positive light. It should reaffirm the company’s core values, instil trust in its leaders and its services. 

“Normal” life as we knew it is now a thing of past. Not even the best recovery plans will take us back to where we were. 

But we can be game-changers and define what tomorrow’s “new normal” will look like. Let’s get to work.

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Jennifer Sanchis is a PR measurement specialist who helps organisations navigate their communications landscape by providing interpretive analysis, actionable insights and strategic guidance. She has supported international media analysis solutions for governments and corporations.

In addition to PR measurement, she has a passion for crisis management and has taken the Crisis Communication Specialist Diploma course by the CIPR. 

She was recently awarded Outstanding Young Communicator of the Year by the CIPR East Anglia.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jenny_Sanchis
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-sanchis-mprca-13164182/

We Are Not Okay

by Nathalie Abiodun

We Are Not Okay

The murder of George Floyd by Officer Derek Chauvin along with Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas K. Lane – is crushing. It is another lesson of agony and inner turmoil that none of us asked for, but we need to take a seat and listen to. 

Agony and empathy are not dictated by geographical borders or political boundaries.  Black people in the UK are in pain. Chauvin’s knee on George’s neck is an all-too-familiar metaphorical picture of what it feels like to be black – anywhere. We hurt as Mr Floyd – a kind and loving giant – was killed because he could be killed; was silenced because he could be silenced. 

We are upset as Londoners, Mancunians, Britons etc because being black precedes citizenship – all day, every day. No, we can no longer put on a brave face for our white colleagues as we see that yet again how being black is positioned as a handicap. This is not unique to America – it’s a universally black experience. 

On this side of the pond, we’ve witnessed the theatre of police brutality against black people and instigating words by US President Donald Trump following recent Black Lives Matter protests (and past incidents of injustices). Ironically, such inflammatory responses only fan the flames of why people are marching.

The bullish actions of the police, national guard and seat holder of the most powerful position in the world, is a picture of how the manipulators of justice are psychologically armed, openly goaded and lawfully protected. It’s a picture of the judiciary, governmental policies, and societal frameworks that perpetuate the systemic alienation and suppression of people of colour. George’s pleas for breath, the first gift God gave him, is the sound of failing humanity.  

The impact of racial injustice, discrimination and microaggression on mental health, self-esteem and personal perspective is not something that is openly discussed but it is widely felt. Personal, local, national and global stories of discrimination, both past and currently lived, form a cancerous cluster of confusion and indignation as to why the world is like this.

Trying to navigate this understanding and showing up to your 9 to 5 is another thing alltogether. The workplace is a hotbed of microaggressions upheld by systematic discrimination and tact. Honestly, many of us are tired of being tired. Dear white people, that is a reality your colleagues are dealing with.

Black Twitter: Reclaiming Narratives

In such times, social media has become an ally. “Black Twitter” is a real thing. A global community and a more-often safe space to vent your frustrations, along with other people of colour.

Not just on Twitter, on other social media and communicative platforms such as WhatsApp, we have used them as an outlet to laugh, ideate solutions, and take control back of narratives that are damaging to black people, narratives that are often distorted or part of a mainstream agenda. Taking control of the narrative is something we all can do not just on a public stage but within our social groups and chats, and what we personally choose to feed on.  

Black people have trusted social media to share the truth on examples of injustice compared to mainstream media. Many of us knew about Mr Floyd’s murder before it was reported by the BBC et al. That is not because the early bird wins the race but rather, integrity reporting is something the mainstream struggles or chooses to ignore so we look to other sources.

Now we use first-hand live accounts and videos on social media, and social commentary to fact check mainstream reports. Now we green light the stories that would have been swept under the carpet, instead of waiting for an editor to approve it for public consumption. A lot of reporters and publications are playing catchup. 

Thanks to social media reporting and social commentary, we are controlling the narrative, – whether it’s reported by the mainstream or not – the narrative in our minds and communities because victim shaming is disproportionately higher in stories people of colour. When a video shows the unsolicited murder of Ahmaud Arbery – we see it, believe it and tune out the subsequent media reports that bring up allegations against the victim of prior thefts and trespassing. When we hear about the unarmed Mark Duggan shot by police – we tune out the images circulated by the press of Mark with his fingers in a “gun sign” to appease the killing of another unarmed black man.  

As we’ve seen with the rise of social media, we can all lend our voice to issues of any kind. Your voice is important. Your words have value. 

I am not okay, but I am not silent.

Black. Lives. Matter.  

Justice for the black people that don’t make our timelines. 

In the cases of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Shukri Abdi, Christopher Kapessa, Belly Mujinga, and more, these are but a few ways that we can take action: 

Donate: You can donate to anti-racism charities, networks and organisations, including Black Lives Matter, or to families around the global directly impacted by racial injustices.   

Educate: https://blacklivesmatter.com/ (Is an international movement) 

Economic empowerment: What brands and organisations support your values? Who are those that don’t? Let’s do the research together. Your investment is your power. 

Voice: Speak up. Knowledge sharing is vital.

Petition: Justice for George Floyd | Justice for Breonna Taylor | Justice for Shukri Abdi | Christopher Kapessa | #WeCan’tBreathe | and unfortunately more. Google is your friend: there are petitions that you can sign your name to. 

Justice for George. Justice for Breonna Taylor. Justice for Ahmaud. Justice for Shukri Abdi. Justice for the black people that don’t make our timelines. 

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Nathalie Abiodun

Writing your biography, especially in the third person, is an incredibly awkward ordeal. Biographies should be inspiring vs a means to compare each other’s achievements or measure our worth against what we haven’t yet achieved. So, I will keep this short and sweet, and in the first person. I am an advocate of the power of voice. I believe we should be unapologetic and open in our conversations about what stirs us, and trust that it will inspire others to do the same. The goal isn’t to be the smartest in the room but to either listen or speak up, or both. In that, my passion for transparent communications and conversations comes alive in advocacy for diversity consciousness, intersectionality and social impact. My life’s journey has been paved with many reminders and evidence that I can “do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13), and today, as you read my work, I am reminded of this truth yet again. Let’s use our diverse platforms and talents for a greater purpose beyond our lives.

Social Links:

Web: https://nathalieabiodunpr.wordpress.com/ 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathalie-abiodun-a0198398 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/abiodunnathalie 

#BlackoutTuesday - What’s YOUR Story?

Today, on #BlackoutTuesday, we welcome this thought provoking blog from writer and journalist Katrina Marshall, who challenges us all to do better in terms of stamping out racism.

Spin doctors; the colouring-in department; comms lovelies… we’ve all endured the derogatory slurs used against the public relations and communications industry.  But there’s one I’m ok with and it’s the one I want you to think about today – declared Blackout Tuesday. 

Storyteller. 

Whether it is a video production, a crisis communications strategy or messaging for a campaign, that is what I am.  I tell stories.  So today I ask my colleagues in comms, what story are you telling?  More than that: what story will be told about you in years to come about last week, today and the months to come?  When the fires burn out.  When a verdict is rendered.  When your twitter feed goes back to predictable hashtags and pictures of puppies?

I am, of course referring to the international outrage over the murder of George Floyd – a black American man – at the hands of four white police officers: two of whom had a history of misconduct.  One of whom kept his knee on the neck of an unconscious black man for a lethal 8 minutes and 46 seconds - 2 minutes and 53 seconds of that time the man was unresponsive and bleeding from the mouth.

Here in the UK, the racism is a lot more subtle.  It’s kinda like the rain: fine and almost indecipherable but over time, consistently applied, will soak you to the bone. 

I want the story you tell, to be of alertness and compassion.  I want the story that is told of you as a comms manager, IC manager or HR manager to be one of listening from a position of privilege. 

Of acts of solidarity that go beyond the performative.  To be one of recognizing the collective anger, exhaustion and generational trauma that is affecting countless members of your team and their wider communities especially today but for decades before this.

I also want you to dispense with the notion that the riots and rage spilling out into the streets from the capital to the bible belt of America is something that is happening to “those people” “over there”.  By now the reaction is global. 

To carry on as if it is nothing to do with you, your team or your community is to perpetuate the already problematic view that the PR industry is little more than an echo chamber for people who all look the same, with similar backgrounds. 

It perpetuates the view that efforts at diversity and inclusion are little more than vanity projects designed to score CPD points and appease murmuring middle-class guilt.  These issues are demonstrated differently in Britain, but they are as pervasive as they have always been.

Not so fast

So, if you’re sitting back in the midst of this crisis silently congratulating yourself for keeping the team ticking over with google hangouts & zoom calls during the Covid 19 lockdown. 

If you’ve sent out the well-meaning ‘It’s ok not to be ok’ all staff email. 

If you’ve fiddled with deliverables and deadlines to give leeway to people juggling childcare, pet care, single parenting, caregiving and self-isolation. 

If you’ve cross checked the “mental health awareness in the workplace” guidelines and everyone “seems” to be doing ok. 

If you’ve done all those things and not thought to at least open the door for a discussion on the repercussions of the George Floyd murder, I’d say ease off on patting yourself on the back just yet.

Because the raging fires of violent unrest we are watching from Amsterdam, to Washington and here in London, are only a physical manifestation of a collective rage people of colour have been feeling for generations.

Time to be the change

But maybe as a manager you’re not switched on to notice that.  And that’s ok.  But now is your chance to flip that switch. Watching men who could be your brother or first cousin be brutally murdered for simply existing is draining. 

Knowing that these men and women are profiled and killed because the social contract we’ve made as humans with each other has been broken by white people plants a poisonous seed in one’s psyche. 

Knowing that even if you’re in a position of authority with the resources to make tangible differences, you will be dismissed as ‘the angry black woman’.  Knowing that being part of the change you want to see doesn’t necessarily mean you are empowered to affect that change because in being “the first” there is still only you. 

Imagine walking with the weight of those dilemmas every day and then being fed platitudes like “what does race have to do with it?”  So, my fellow story teller, in truth, checking in on how the events of the past week have affected your colleagues is the bare minimum of what you should be doing.

The reception

Here’s the thing: not everyone is going to respond quickly, easily or favourably. 

Some will be the only minorities on the team and will simply not wish to be that vulnerable to people who do not share their cultural grief.  Others will appreciate the gesture but say nothing. Waiting to see if it is more tokenism at work or the signalling of true seed change. 

The reality is, we’ve been here before with lip service showing up where we believed tangible action would be.  We’ve been trotted out as firsts and onlys while being utterly ignored at decision-making time. We’ve been turned into yet another infuriating British acronym (BAME) which I have pointedly refused to use here. 

Because this is just another box to keep minorities in to make others feel comfortable about their place in society.  Simply put: no matter how much you claim to empathise, your gesture to check in with your team is not about you. No one owes you a cookie cutter response.  The best you can hope for is the knowledge that somehow down the line you contributed to tangible change. Do not be too quick to affix the term ally to your twitter bio unless you’ve spent more time listening than you have talking.

If, heaven forbid, you are not at all bothered about how 3 months of Covid19 and a week of murder by policeman in American could rattle even the calmest team member from a minority background, then at least give them the berth to be unsettled, to miss deadlines, to be a little snippy, to be vacant, to be checked out… because what you are witnessing is grief.  If it was a pet or a blood relative, I’d like to think you’d give them at the least that space. 

I cannot tell you how to execute this action.  Others are far better at providing those tools. But I can tell you your action needs to be part of the story you tell.  It does those without a platform a disservice to think we who have one, can only speak up, act up, level up or boss up when we have all the answers, all the research, all the knowledge and the capacity and energy. 

Activism is thirsty work. And if you're open to learning as you go, no one will crucify you for trying to do the best you can with the tools you are given.

Thank you to the colleagues and allies at #FutureProof for sharing this platform and being part of the change.

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Katrina Marshall

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katrina-marshall-5ba61b6a
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kat_isha

Why communications is now a hard skill, and what it means for CEOs

by Oliver Aust, CEO and founder of Eo Ipso Communications

Today, mastering communications is not simply a matter of adding another string to your bow. Communications has become a fundamental or hard skill not just for communicators, but also for CEOs, executives and anyone with ambition. Without excellent communication, it is almost impossible to succeed in the 2020s. 

This has a profound impact on the way in-house or external communications advisors interact with their CEOs or clients. We need to show convincingly that the bar – and the stakes – are now much higher in executive communications, and that CEOs should raise their game accordingly. 

What caused communications to shift from soft to hard skill? 

In short, automation and artificial intelligence are revolutionising our lives and workplaces. Everything that can be automated or digitalised will be over the course of the next few decades. This need not be a cause for despair; on the contrary, it is an opportunity to focus more on what humans do best.

Communications is one of the key differentiators between humans and machines. For the foreseeable future, computers will not be able to deliver inspiring speeches or provide the right words to show empathy in a crisis. And developments in technology have not reached the point where bots can apply the critical thinking necessary to build a great company culture. Therefore, it is crucial that executives master the art of communications if we are going to stand out from bots, peers and competitors. With a comprehensive grasp of communications, humans will still be able to rise to the challenge of leading an organisation into the future. As bestselling author and communications expert, Carmine Gallo writes: “Become a great communicator by mastering the art and science of persuasion and you’ll thrive in the modern world.”

So why does this trend impact CEOs? 

There are three main reasons and they are all the result of new or emerging trends.

1) Communications is increasingly driving the bottom line

Without a strong brand, a business is merely a commodity that competes on price. Eighty-five percent of members in the IPSOS Reputation Council agree that a company’s reputation affects financial results. Reputation depends, above all else, on the ability to effectively communicate an organisation’s value and purpose to customers, employees and shareholders. As the leading ambassador of the brand, the CEO now plays the key role in this effort. Research by L.E.K. Consulting attributes nearly half (48%) of the company’s reputation to that of the CEO, and this is expected to increase significantly in the next few years.

2) The advent of the social CEO

Our understanding of the role of the CEO is undergoing a profound transformation. Individual voices are now being favoured over standard corporate communications which, as a result, has catapulted the CEO to the centre of a company’s reputation. In the BRANDfog CEO, Social Media and Leadership Survey, 82% of respondents said they are much more likely to trust the brand when its leadership and CEO use social media. Customers are not the only ones who demand more visibility from the CEOs – employees want it too. In the New Times, New Leaders study by PR360, 89% of employees said that regular communication from the head of the company was good for morale and productivity, yet strikingly 44% of employees stated that their CEO is not visible to staff and discourages people from dropping into their office. 

3) When CEOs and other C-level executives are forced out, it is now mostly because of reputational issues

In an eye-opening study Perception beats Performance by the management consultancy Roland Berger, it was revealed that in 71% of cases in which top managers left prematurely, the reason was reputational. In the 1990s, performance mattered most and reputation was secondary. Similarly, research by consultancy Weber Shandwick found that executives estimate that a staggering 44% of their company’s market value is attributable to the reputation of their CEO. 

Weber Shandwick’s Chief Reputation Strategist Leslie Gaines-Ross pointed out that purchasing “decisions are now increasingly based on additional factors such as the company behind the brand, what the company stands for and even the standing of its senior leaders.” Therefore, CEOs need to carefully craft their reputation to earn customer trust and pay particular attention to their online image. CEOs who support a controversial cause or say something overtly offensive risk losing current – as well as future – customers because news travels fast.

Building reputations in the digital age 

The upshot of these developments: Only by mastering the fundamentals of communications will CEOs be able to succeed in the 2020s. No entrepreneur or executive can afford to ignore reputation management, or even perform it half-heartedly. In my view, this is a point senior communicators increasingly need to get across to the leaders of their organisations.  

I make specific reference to the 2020s because although some aspects of communications are timeless, such as storytelling and public speaking, others have emerged only recently. The pressure for CEOs to communicate using digital tools, and to reckon with concepts such as digital thought-leadership and search engine optimisation are only recent developments. 

And we, as the core force of the world of communications, have to recognise this reality and start building new strategies. Focusing our approach on building a solid reputation for CEOs and high profile executives is not only smart thinking, it is a necessity for the survival of the business. 

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OLIVER AUST is the CEO and founder of Eo Ipso Communications and the author of two books on CEO communications. Oliver helps high-profile individuals and organisations bring their reputation to the next level so that they can build future-proof businesses. Throughout his career, he has frequently been at the frontline of some of the most high-profile reputational challenges in Europe. His latest book, Mastering Communications, is now available on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle. 

For more info on Oliver Aust visit www.oliveraust.com or follow him on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram @oliveraust_ 

Risky Business: PR agencies are ignoring WhatsApp’s GDPR privacy issues

by Michelle Goodall, Head of Marketing at Guild.co.

Us communications professionals use WhatsApp daily.

It has become part of our DNA.

And chat technology has enabled the Public Relations industry to be more efficient and agile.

Many PRs use WhatsApp for client approvals, crisis and issues management, client contractual discussions and chatting to journalists and colleagues.

It’s a messy platform where our professional lives and mobile phone numbers are mixed up with family and friends and embarrassing Rugby/ Hockey/Football teammates posting morally dubious videos and memes.

Like SMS or email, it is a great common communications denominator. Pretty much EVERYONE uses WhatsApp after all.

But how many of us have assessed the business risks of 1:1 client communications using WhatsApp messaging for our PR agency or consultancy?

And how many of us have really thought about GDPR and privacy risks of social media messaging platforms?

WhatsApp’s Terms of Service prohibits non-personal use

The simple truth is that most Public Relations professionals don’t know that WhatsApp’s Terms of Service prohibit its use for non-personal purposes.

Under the ‘Legal and Acceptable Use’ of Our Services section of WhatsApp’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/, they formally state that “(f) involve any non-personal use of our Services unless otherwise authorised by us.”

‘WhatsApp for Business’ enables PR agencies to send daily round ups of news and articles to prospects and clients, such as The Unmistakables brilliant ‘Minoritease’ https://www.theunmistakables.com/blog/welcome-to-minoritease

This is great example of a compliant business use of WhatsApp in our sector.

However, if you are using WhatsApp for any other form of client communications, you should read this cautionary blog post. https://guild.co/blog/10-dangers-of-using-whatsapp-for-business/.

A rumble around our increasing dependency on Facebook apps and concerns around data privacy and GDPR compliance in a business setting is turning into a roar.

As the Jules Polonetsky, Chief Executive of the Future of Privacy Forum in the Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/articles/do-messaging-apps-fit-into-the-workplace-not-always-comfortably-11568772000.

“Organisations should make it clear to employees that they should not use private-communications channels for work-related purposes. […] Third-party apps that operate completely outside the employer’s governance make it impossible to protect sensitive company data.”

There are private, GDPR compliant alternatives to WhatsApp for business messaging

There is a solution. Compliant, private business messaging apps do exist.

Guild is a Freemium app, primarily created as a compliant business messaging app alternative to WhatsApp.

Its founder, Ashley Friedlein explains that PR agencies should provide counsel, not just around the ethics of social media, but also ensure that they are clued up about business messaging and privacy risks:

“Chat platforms are great for speed and efficiency, but they have no obligation to be private by design. In fact, their ad-funded business model relies on our data.

He continues, “WhatsApp doesn’t allow users to access all of their personal chat and messaging data. Imagine a scenario where your client has communicated a pivotal decision to you on WhatsApp, but the message has disappeared or has been deleted. There is no record. No proof. In an ideal world, we’d all be using email for all approvals, contractual stuff, but increasingly we’re doing it by messaging.

This puts the agency and client at risk. This is one of the reasons why we’re seeing agencies signing up for Guild. They have complete oversight over all groups and messages and can access historical conversations. There are so many advantages to this, not least proof of explicit consent from clients’ messages.”

Time for PR to get on the front foot – PR use-cases for business messaging

It’s not a conspiracy of silence in the Public Relations industry, it is inertia.

If non-GDPR compliance isn’t enough to get business owners and comms professionals to re-evaluate their use of WhatsApp, then the imminent ads on the platform might. Ashley believes that this could be a tipping point for many who wish to separate personal from professional chat.

Smart, #FuturePRoof PR professionals should get on the front foot now, advise their clients and ensure their own messaging is risk-free, private and GDPR compliant.

Messaging app use-cases for Public Relations include crisis communications, client messaging, small VIP communities, advisory boards, internal communications, qualitative research panels and even branded communities.

For example, if I were working on Dove’s ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’ today, my PR agency would use Guild to create:

• A collaborative group of educational advisors, wellbeing experts, psychologists, stylists to discuss the campaign, messaging and impact

• A group of the original ‘Real Women’ models to organise their whereabouts during the campaign

• A client/agency messaging channel to discuss media opportunities and gain approvals and sign offs

• A crisis and issues management group to evaluate and react to issues

Humane tech that supports the PR industry

Guild supports small businesses and is an ad-free, private alternative to WhatsApp for businesses. It has been recognised by the Digital Agenda as ‘Humane Tech’ in their ‘Power & Responsibility’ Green Paper. https://digitalagenda.io/insight/green-paper-launched-ahead-of-power-responsibility-summit/

Unlike WhatsApp, it can be fully branded and allows the host to invite members to private groups where conversations are threaded and searchable.

Guild is free to use up to 30 members, across as many groups as you want, so most PR agencies will come under this threshold.

Give it a try before the ads hit your WhatsApp screen…. and before you accidentally send the offensive Rugby meme to your most sensitive client… or your Nan.

https://guild.co/blog/12-things-you-can-do-on-guild-that-you-cant-with-whatsapp/

#FuturePRoof guide tackles influencer marketing governance for public relations

We’ve published a guide to governance in influencer marketing. It aims to give public relations a voice in the fast growing market.

#FuturePRoof has published a guide that addresses the need for influencer marketing governance in public relations. It provides clear guidance for practitioners and influencers themselves.

The #FuturePRoof guide aims to give public relations a voice around the critical area of governance for influencer marketing. It’s a challenging area of practice that sits between marketing and public relations and earned and paid media.

You can access the guide HERE.


Spotlighting the growing issue of influencer marketing governance 

There were more than 16,000 complaints made about 14,000 online ads and social media posts last year according to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) Annual Report 2018.

According to MarketsandMarkets, the global influencer market is currently estimated at £4.5 billion in 2019.

In the UK influencer campaigns are governed by existing ASA and Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) laws. Members of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) are also covered by their codes of conduct.

The #FuturePRoof guide characterises the market, includes applicable media law and guidance from advertising, marketing and public relations. It covers guidance for campaigns where no money is exchanged, gifts in kind such as accommodation or travel, and financial payment.


Governance impacts agencies, brands and influencers

The tension between earned and paid campaigns isn’t only a challenge for marketing and public relations practitioners. It has also led to influencers themselves breaching advertising and trading standards law.

The #FuturePRoof view is that there is a growing need and opportunity for formal representation for influencers. Insurance company Hiscox launched an influencer and public figure protection insurance policy in September 2018.

 “The #FuturePRoof guide highlights best practice for brands, agencies and influencers. Everyone involved in a campaign has a responsibility to adhere to relevant advertising and media law,” said #FuturePRoof’s founder and editor, Sarah Waddington. “I’m grateful to everyone who contributed to this important industry guidance.”

“The public relations industry has been slow to offer leadership on influencer marketing to practitioners and influencers. We’ve been here before with search engine optimisation (SEO), social media, and content marketing. It’s important that PR doesn’t miss out again,” said Scott Guthrie, independent influencer marketing consultant.

The guide has been written by Scott Guthrie, an independent influencer marketing consultant, and Stephen Waddington, managing director of Metia and visiting professor at Newcastle University.

It includes contributions from Jake O’Neill, senior marketing manager, Vuelio; Rupa Shah, founder and director of Hashtag Ad Consulting; and Andrew Terry, partner and head of intellectual property & media, Eversheds Sutherland.

Francis Ingham, Director General, PRCA, said: “Influencer marketing is a burgeoning area of our practice, but the number of cases brought by the ASA and CMA proves that too many influencers and practitioners are falling foul of the standards we expect.

“All PR professionals working with influencers have an ethical duty to ensure they - and those they work with - comply with the law. The PRCA Code of Conduct compels professionals to deal honestly with the public – that includes being transparent over any commercial agreements with third parties. Failure to uphold these standards damages trust in our industry.

“I welcome the #FuturePRoof guide to Influencer Marketing Governance for Public Relations. It delivers a comprehensive overview of the laws and best-practice approaches for influencer marketing. I urge those working in influencer relations to familiarise themselves with the guide. It’s time for us to get a grip on this - ignorance is not an excuse.”

Let us know what you think via the #FuturePRoof Facebook page or tweet us @WeArePRoofed.